Ralf Hildenbeutel: From Sven Väth’s Techno Revolution to Netflix’s Supersex

Ralf Hildenbeutel takes Steve Blame inside his creative partnership with Sven Väth—and the journey from Frankfurt’s electronic music scene to composing the score for Netflix’s Supersex. He recalls how a DJ and classically trained musicians challenged one another to think differently, breaking away from conventional song structures and bringing unexpected instruments, field recordings and visual ideas into their music. Ralf discusses the Eye Q years, An Accident in Paradise, Barbarella and The Harlequin, the Robot and the Ballet Dancer. He describes hearing his own tracks in clubs, watching the crowd react, and recognising the significance of that period only later. The conversation follows his move into pop production and screen music, the intense demands of scoring a daily television drama, and the challenge of creating Supersex’s mix of orchestral emotion, vintage electronics and music spanning different decades. A conversation about collaboration, reinvention and learning when to move in a new direction. This is an archive interview recorded around the release of Supersex in 2024. References to current projects and future opportunities reflect that period. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction and interview highlights 01:28 Meeting Ralf Hildenbeutel in Frankfurt 01:53 Childhood, musical tastes and discovering the piano 04:15 The teacher who broadened his musical education 05:19 Discovering jazz at a young age 06:24 Family support—and expectations of a secure career 08:03 School bands and his first keyboard 09:09 Music as an escape and a means of expression 10:08 Finding his own musical circle 11:12 Early recording experiments and production work 12:14 Confidence, early opportunities and being the youngest 14:12 Meeting Sven Väth through Matthias Hoffmann 16:02 How the studio partnership began 16:47 Open minds instead of a fixed plan 18:04 An equal creative partnership 19:05 Frankfurt’s clubs and the new electronic scene 21:18 From the dance floor back to the studio 22:36 Hearing his own records and watching the crowd react 23:42 The shared experience of club music 25:02 Looking back on the Sven Väth years 26:57 Why they made different music together 28:38 Field recordings and imagining stories through sound 30:33 Sven’s visual ideas for An Accident in Paradise 31:50 Hommage à Noir: composing without dialogue 33:51 Creating an original score for the finished film 35:21 Eye Q’s financial difficulties and changing direction 38:05 A fresh challenge in pop production 39:27 Bringing electronic influences into pop songs 42:18 Choosing a future in film music 44:02 Verbotene Liebe: learning through a daily TV drama 45:34 Deadlines, directors and creative freedom 47:08 Joining Netflix’s Supersex 49:20 The conversation turns to the adult-film industry 50:25 Finding the musical approach to Supersex 53:22 Connecting contrasting emotions and musical themes 55:12 Balancing the director, producers and Netflix 57:15 The response to the series and its music 58:38 Bringing classical training and electronic experience together 1:00:26 Recognition and possible new opportunities 1:01:08 Closing thoughts and farewell Explore more